NIGHTMARE Time
by DH88
Summary: Something has been released into Ooo that hasn't been heard from since before the Mushroom War. It's killing in a very specific pattern, always children and teenagers, and always while they sleep. Can Finn get to the bottom of this? Will he have a clear enough head while he's trying not to fall asleep? What horrors await once he closes his eyes?
1. Prologue

**MANDATORY DISCLAIMER:  
I OWN NOTHING. ALL NAMED CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF THEIR CREATORS, PEN WARD AND CARTOON NETWORK AS WELL AS WES CRAVEN AND WHOMEVER CURRENTLY HAS THE RIGHTS TO THE ELM STREET FRANCHISE. I'D RESEARCH IT BUT IT SHOULD BE PRETTTY CLEAR THAT THAT PARTY ISN'T ME.  
**

* * *

"HIYAAA! Take that you butt of a demon!" cried a young boy wearing an awesome bear hat. He slashed his sword, lopping the horn off of a large beast. The monster backed away, clutching at the new stump decorating the left side of its head.

"Awe C'MOOON! You're ruining my look! It took months to grow these things out!" whined the demon. He easily stood 9 feet and resembled a pretty standard demon by the archaic standard from before the Mushroom War, red skin, horns on his head, goat legs, the works. He was honestly not something seen much these days as most demons were more creative than this old design, but one can't really mess with the classics I guess.

A yellow arm stretched out and picked up the 3 foot length or horn laying on the ground, stretching further to give the demon a loud club over the back of his red skull. The demon lurched forward and slammed into the ground, a lump forming on the back of his head.

"What look? Dude, have you looked in the mirror lately? You ugly!" shouted a yellow dog, finishing with a laugh that was more jolly than mean. The demon lifted himself to his knees, his anger seeming to ooze from his very pores. He lunged towards the dog, his claws balled up into angry demon fists. Suddenly before the demon could make contact his opponent magically stretched out of his reach while still laughing, and he barrelled right through the stretchy legs and tackled nothing but air before crashing to the ground again.

"How is this happening? You're just a dumb kid and his stupid dog! I'm a demon! This is not how this works!"

"Dude! Jake IS NOT my dog, he's my best friend and my bro!" shouted Finn.

"You tell'em Homie! Oh... Oh gross, what's that from?" said Jake. He began to run his tongue over his teeth while grimacing. He started picking his teeth with the severed horn, much to the demon's disgust.

"C'mon man! That's my horn! You can't just start picking your teeth with my Do! That's just-OOOF!" The demon was suddenly cut off by a swift kick to the gut causing him to stagger backwards. Finn continued to push him back with blow after heroic blow. The demon finally came to a stop, giving Finn a murderous look. Totally unfazed Finn barrelled forward and sliced off the demon's other horn before delivering a snap kick to his chin, knocking the demon to his butt.

Finn bent down to pick up the fallen horn with his left hand while holding his sword forward with his right. The weapon shone bright red in the dimming sunlight, all from blade to pommel, left to him by his Father, crafted totally of demon's blood. He didn't try to use it too often, but when he heard that there was a demon terrorizing the Goblin Kingdom he felt he totally had to slay some evil with it.

The demon clutched at the matching nub on the right side of his skull and howled with rage, standing to his full height, his eyes squeezed shut. He stomped on the ground and muttered a spell that neither brother could understand, causing a portal to form behind him. He turned to Finn and Jake, the latter still picking his teeth. He brought his clawed hands down from his nubs and screamed at the pair,

"I'll be back for you two! I swear it! I'LL GET YOU WHILE SLEEP!"

"Hah! I've heard scarier things from Peppermint Butler!" Jake's speech was a bit muffled as he was still hard at work on his picking. The demon's face suddenly lost all anger and his eyes grew wide.

"Whoa, you guys know Peppermint But-LUUUH" the demon was suddenly cut off by a flying dropkick to the stomach launching him through his own portal. Finn picked himself up off the ground and stared blankly for a few moments until the portal closed. As soon as it was gone he threw his hands into the air and cheering and laughing.

"Whoo! Yeah! We kicked major demon-butt Jake! He was all like 'RAWR!' and we were all like 'Oh yeah?', and then he was all like... Dude, that's really stuck in there, huh?" Finn questioned noticing Jake still hard at work on his teeth. Finally with a great heave and a grunt he dislodged the object that had literally been all up in his grill, a cast iron pan.

"Dude, you really gotta lay off the everything burritos, or at least skinny down your whack meaning for 'EEEEEVERYTHING'."

"Finn," said Jake, "you're my brother and I love you, so I'm just gonna forget you even said that". Jake picked up the chewed pan and stretched up to shove it into Finn's backpack.

"Whatever dude... Let's head home now. It'll be dark by the time we get back and evil slaying's really burned me out today."

"I hear ya brother, hop on and I'll get us back before you can say... Uh... Bloopbleeblaahbalapalargusig hned!" muttered Jake as Finn climbed onto his growing back. Finn frowned and attempted to say it a few times before giving up.

"Jake, that's not even a real word!"

"Okay, you got me there man. Hold on tight."

* * *

After a little over an hour the pair made it back to their tree house home. They both ran inside and dive bombed side by side onto the couch, drawing a frightened breath from Beemo who had been in sleep-mode on the table. Jake excitedly began to tell the small computer about their latest adventure, exaggerating and blowing everything out of proportion of course, but that didn't matter to Beemo who took it all in with wide, pixelated eyes.

Finn just sat staring off into space, the day having taken a lot out of him. Appearance wise he was pretty much, well, Finn. It was about a year since he'd first met the Flame Princess and gotten over Princess Bubblegum. He was a little taller since then but that's about where his outward appearance changes ended. His hair had grown significantly, but you'd never know because of his hat. Finn let out a large yawn, prompting Jake to stop his story and join in.

"HUUUAAAAAHH... Whoa man, watch it. That stuff's contagious. You wanna get your butt kicked at some Beemo?"

"Naw man," Finn replied "I think I'm gonna turn in, I'm pooped."

"Alright bro, sleep tight. I'monna stay up and put Beemo through his paces for a bit."

Finn nodded and ascended to their shared bedroom where he quickly swapped into his red footie Pyjamas and zipped into his sleeping bag for the night. Soon enough he was dreaming, of things that could or should be.

* * *

"AAAAARRGH! I _hate_ those guys... My flippin' horns!" The demon was still moaning about his lost horns as he wandered a red, fiery landscape. He had "escaped" back to the Nightosphere after his tussle with Finn and Jake, wandering aimlessly and shouting curses. Seriously, he really hated those guys! Whether they really knew Peppermint Butler or not...

He continued along the burning ground, kicking rocks, smaller demons and once even a beast ten times his size. Sadly, he lucked out with the bigger demon not really noticing the blow. The whole way his forked tongue continued to spit insults at the pair that weren't even there, and eventually he meandered into a set of tunnels that happened to lead down into the very bowels of the Nightosphere itself. Here is where the Lord of Evil himself kept many of the more dangerous demons locked up, especially the ones that fed on living souls. Because seriously, who needs competition?

The hornless demon continued through these tunnels, oblivious that he was passing by many cell doors that were significantly more reinforced that the standard prisons of the dark realm. He continued on muttering modern profanities under his breath, and then shouting them out when he though one was particularly good.

"I'll get those two! That kid is a good as dead, and so is the mutt! Mark my words!"

"Oh, I'll mark them. You've got **MY** full attention, friend."

Stump-head stopped dead in his tracks at the sound of the other voice. The voice was deep, guttural and almost seemed on the edge of laughter. He looks over at the wall to his right, thick bars set close together breaking up the red stone of the rest of the tunnel. As he peers through the bars he notices that the cell is covered almost completely in shadow except for the first bit of it just beyond the bars. All he could see through the dim lighting was a battered and dirty looking brown hat hanging on the wall, the wide rim around it notched and burned. While being so focused on trying to find a source to the mysterious voice he is suddenly started by a high pitched screech, like steel grating on stone. He musters what little courage he has and steps towards the bars.

"Who's there?" he asks, his tall frame nearly shaking.

"Like I said, I'm friend. Sounds like you've got a kid problem?"

"Yeah, so? Who the Grod asked you?"

"No one. You just seem bummed out, and I'd just like to... help you out."

"What could you possibly do to help me?"

The demon heard some low laughter as he heard footsteps echo from the back of the cell, stopping at the edge of the darkness in the cell. He could only make out a vague shape; two arms, two legs and a head. Nothing special.

"I could make all your problems disappear, just like a bad dream. You see, I _love_ children. Maybe even their dogs too, depends on my mood."

"Look, I don't want'em loved. I want'em DEAD!"

The demon takes a step back as deep, guttural laughter booms out of the cell. Now he actually was shaking, he'd never felt so overwhelmed in his life. The demon stood taller than the door by a few feet but even just the feeling of this voice seemed to dwarf him, filling him with a fear like nothing he'd felt since he was just an imp.

"I can arrange something like that my friend, I can make sure they go out screamin'. But first you've gotta spring me from this joint. Since the new management took over, I haven't really been able to stretch my legs. It's been a real Bitch!"

More laughter erupted from the darkness and the demon could feel something very powerful, very old emanating from that voice. This was probably his best chance for revenge, but how to get him out? He turns around and suddenly spots another demon forcing "the stuff" out of his ears into an empty cell. He had crimson skin and was very bat-like in appearance with two red swords strapped to his back. He was about to ignore the newcomer altogether until he also noticed some keys hanging from the smaller demon's waist.

"Hey you!"

"Wha? Me?"

"Yeah you. You wanna give me the key to this cell? I really need to bust this guy out."

The jailer narrowed his eyes and approached the nub headed demon.

"Hmm... I dunno man, that door's been locked for a looong time. I mean, he's been locked up here for as long as I can remember. I can't seem to recall why though. Huh, funny."

"Look, are you gonna give me the key or not?"

"Well... my relief is about 10 minutes late. Sure, why not. It doesn't matter if he gets out or not, he's still stuck in the Nightosphere. Here, I gotta go."

The jailer passed a key up to the nubby demon and turned away, taking flight down the corridor. The demon looked down at the key in his hand. It was nothing extraordinary, just a large black key.

"I really didn't think it would be this easy"

"Well if you ask me, security around her has really GONE TO **HELL**! AUHAHAHAHA!"

"Gone to where?" asked the demon, truly confused. The laughter suddenly cut off.

"You kiddn' me? What, are you new here?" asked the voice in a disbelieving tone.

"No way man, I've been around for... Oh, 400 years or so."

"Kids these days... Back on track now! Set me loose, and then we're really gonna have some fun."

The demon looked at the key once more. What's he have to lose? He already had to spend eternity in the Nightosphere, those portals he made were kinda one shots, real expensive magic down here. He shook his head an popped the key into the slot of the cell door. Immediately the door sucked the key in and began to slide into the wall itself. The demon watched as an arm left the darkness clad in a dirty red and green sweater and retrieved the hat from the wall, placing atop the head in the darkness. Finally his benefactor stepped out from the shadows into the dim lighting in the tunnel. He looked human, but any skin you could see was covered in severe burns. His sweater was a mess of red and green stripes and it was filthy. Continuing downward he was wearing dark pants and boots, both equally a worn and filthy as the rest of his getup. The thing he noticed the most was his hand. His left hand was bare and as severely burned as the rest of him, but his right was adorned with what at first looked like claws, but after a closer look with was a glove which had razor sharp knives embedded in the fingertips. He was nothing really worse looking that some of the stuff down in the Nightosphere, but it was the feeling he gave off, his presence that made him so unnerving, even to the demon towering over him.

"So now what happens?" asked the demon, a sheen of sweat covering his body. The burned man looked up at him and... smiled. He made a low bow to his larger companion.

"Well, before I get down to business, I need a little... Pick-me-up" he said, looking the demon right in the eyes. Big and nubby froze in place, this was the first time he'd looked this guy directly in the eyes, and he was terrified at what he saw. It was like looking into a whole other world, full of fire and hate. Screams echoed in his mind, red clouded his vision. It put him in mind of stories about the Nightosphere before the great Mushroom War, back before the current Lord of Evil took over and the name changed. He blinked, and the figure was gone. He turned around, looking all about when he finally felt a weight on his back, the burned man was clinging to him with his left hand, his clawed right raised in the air over his head.

"What the Crust are you?" he asked, trembling. The burned man's face lit up and he laughed again, finally responding in a quiet, low tone.

"I'm everybody's worst Nightmare. I know what you think then you're alone, what moves you, what delights you, what fills you with fear. I'm the thing in your closet your parents never see when you scream out at night. And now thanks to you I can go out and be with my children again. Now do me a favour, and OPEN WIIIIDE!"

The burned man brought down his claws and embedded them in the back of the demon's shoulder causing his jaws to stretch open in a howl of agony. The next moment he swung down from the wound and started hanging from the front of him. Before the demon could close his mouth the burned man was impossibly forcing himself down the beast's throat. His eyes stretched wide and he watched the feet slide past his field of vision and felt the agony of his throat stretching out. This couldn't be happening, this was impossible!

Suddenly it was over and he was alone in the corridor, his shoulder bleeding freely. He had stopped shaking but he was breathing heavily, like there was a great pressure on his chest. He felt thing heavy, twisting feeling in the pit of his gut. He still felt scared, but his fear was slowly draining away, and he suddenly felt like he could barley stand. His vision began to blur and he brought his hand in front of his face and he watched in horror as it slowly withered away before his eyes. He uttered a low scream as the colour all around him slowly bled away from his vision, everything taking on a dull grey. He slumped up against the wall, his body becoming more and more gaunt by the second. Eventually he just started to feel numb all over, physically and mentally. Finally he couldn't stay awake any more and everything went blank as even the light left his eyes.

Nothing happened for a few moments, the tunnels were dead quiet. All of a sudden the burned man's claws burst from the demon's chest and he slowly broke out a larger hole and crawled out from the lifeless husk he's made. He slowly brushed off his clothes and adjusted his hat, a smug look on his face. He brought his right hand in front of him and flexed the joints in his glove.

"I'm back kiddies, but don't worry. That was just the appetizer, and Freddy's ready for the main course," he said, a picture forming in his mind, a face taken from the demon's memories, "and I know just where to go first..."

In a fit of laughter he slowly began to dissolve into nothingness, vanishing from the Nightosphere and the physical realm altogether.

* * *

Finn drifted through his mind, a dream slowly taking shape around him. First the grass, then a pathway, and finally the walls before the Candy Kingdom. He enters through the gates into the surrounding town, noticing that there are no Candy People around. He shrugs it off and heads off towards the castle, stopping every now and then as he hears a voices and children laughing. Every time he turned around he would catch a glimpse of someone in his peripheral vision but they were always gone when he tried to focus.

"Yo! Who's out there? I'm warning you, I can mess you UP!" he yelled out, hoping whoever was messing with him could hear.

With that he got closer to the Candy Gardens and hear a lot more voices. As he entered he saw that there was some kind of masquerade party going on as all of the candy people were wearing masks and talking amongst themselves. He smiled, figuring this was why the town was so empty, everyone was here living it up! He looked off to the side as a red and green striped candy cane with a busted up hat was pruning one of the hedge statues with a clawed glove. It was a figure of Princess Bubblegum when she was just... Thirteen. This tugged at Finn's emotions for a second but he just shook his head. That was over.

"That's kinda neat" he said aloud, about to turn away. Before he could take his eyes off of the figure the gardener made a large swipe with his glove and the head was taken off of the figurine, red syrup seeming to gout from the severed bush. Finn's face contorted with rage and his arms shot up.

"Hey man, what the stuff? You can't just Globbin' do that! I'm gonna-" he was suddenly cut off by a hand resting on his shoulder. Slowly he turned around and saw who had grabbed him. The rage left his face and the anger ebbed away, letting his arms go limp.

"Hello, little boy."

* * *

Alright, this is the first thing I've written in a very long time. It's rated T for now but will probably trade up to M for later chapters as I can't really not have Krueger be as vulgar as possible. Thanks for giving this a read and drop me a review. There will definatley be more chapters to this as I'm on an Adventure Time kick by day and an Elm Street kick by night. I'm having fun writing this and I hope you actually want more beyond this prologue. Tell me what you think!


	2. Sweet Dreams

**Hey guys! Glad the few of you that have reviewed have enjoyed what you've read. Before I get right into the chapter, I'm like to give a little response to my reviewers.**

Hawk **- Actually, I was worried that I tend to ramble on about details a littel too much, but I guess I like to critique me own work too.**

SCIK1012 **- Once again, I'm sometimes worred that I ramble on a bit too much. I'm really glad you like it.**

Wittedkarma **- Well here's some more, glad you're enjoying it. As for the character, I'll explain in a bit below. Don't be too disappointed now.**

Alright, something I'd like to address. It only really outright said it in my profile and I kinda covered a bit of this in the disclaimer in the Prologue chapter. That Fic is basically a crossover between Adventure Time and Nightmare on Elm Street, I'm rudley injecting Freddy into the Adventure Time universe. That out of the way, one more thing and we're good to go.

**_DISCLAIMER : I OWN NOTHING UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE._**

* * *

"Hello, little boy."

Finn had been turned around, his previous angry emotion leaving his body, his eyes unscrunching and his fists unballing into fingers and palms. His previous anger was replaced by...

"Oh, hey PB."

Warmth. Standing before him, her hand on his shoulder was none other than his long time friend, Princess Bubblegum. He took a quick glance back at the trimmed figurine, but now it looked totally different. Now it looked like... a hand, but with knives or something coming out of the fingers, and that dude was...

"Princess, something's going on here. Have you seen your new gardener? I and what's with-"

"Finn, calm down. It's alright, I've got something I have to tell you..." interrupted the princess, a faint blush rising to her cheeks. Finn looked a bit taken back, startled. He'd recently gotten over his head over heels crush on Bubblegum, he still liked her and everything, just not... Like, like-like.

"What's up PB?"

The princess suddenly launched herself and latched onto her hero, crushing him against her in a tight embrace.

"Oh Finn... I just... I can't keep pretending anymore. I need you, the way you feel in my arms, the way you smell. I need you to be here with me, and I know you'll never leave me... Not even if..."

Finn's face was bright read at this point, his eyes reduced to mere pin-pricks on his face. Now he didn't know how to react. His heart was pounding and the mushy side of his heart was tearing itself apart with conflict. He didn't like her like he used to, but now she liked him? Should he start liking her again? Should he let her down easy?

_'Why can't I just disappear or something? Oh Grod Glob it! I don't know what to do!'_

His thoughts were going through his brain at a rate he really wasn't used to. He started to feel a burning sensation in his skull, which may or may not have been helped by the blood flooding his face right now. He was brought somewhat back to reality as he was pushed back to arms length. His blushed diminished greatly when he saw the look of concern on her face.

"Finn, what's wrong? Don't you _love_ me back?"

He was dumbstruck, he really didn't know what to say. A year or two ago he would have jumped at this, a chance to be with her and have her return his emotions and his advances... But now... He just didn't feel like that anymore. Not like he used to.

"Well PB, I..."

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for you anymore, is that it?"

The look on her face was suddenly furious, her grip tightening on his shoulders. He gasped with surprise and finally the blush was totally gone from his face. This was actually beginning to... hurt. And it wasn't like his feeling got hurt, or when his emotions would get so crushed he'd cry and cry and cry and... cry. This pain was purely physical. He didn't know the princess was this strong.

"Princess... You're hurting me" he gasped, feeling his frame being pushed near its limits.

Her face suddenly lost its anger and it was suddenly replace with a bright smile. She released her hold on him and he took a step backwards, his eyes never leaving her face. She didn't look mad anymore, but she still looked... Just wrong. That smile wasn't right, it was off.

"Oh Finn, I know what it is, that's okay!" she said, taking a step back from him as well. He followed her movements and a weird feeling was growing in the pit of his gut.

She continued to move back, walking towards another bushy figurine, this one depicting the hero himself. With the way the wind was blowing, it almost looked like it was shaking it's head 'NO'. Finn tore his eyes from it in time to catch what Bubblegum did next. She stepped to the very edge on the bushy statue.

"I understand Finn, I've always told you, again and again, 'I'm too old for you'. I know that you really prefer me-"

She leapt behind the bush and landed on the other side, drawing a gasp from Finn.

"-like this."

She stood now before him, no longer too old, no longer burdened by responsibilities. She was thirteen years old again, and she was there. For him. She wanted to be with him... Oh how his mind raced, his feeling mashed up against one another and his heart resumed pounding against his chest like a caged animal. He didn't know what to think, what to do. Part of him knew that this was wasn't real, that he was sleeping. The other part of him wanted to run over and take her into his arms, to live and love like he'd always hoped and dreamed...

Well that was it. Like he'd always dreamed. That was the breaking point where even Finn's mind could catch on. Everything was turning out to be just too good to be true. This was, deep down, no matter how many times he told himself otherwise what he'd always wanted, and always would want. He knew that and accepted that, that's how he got by everyday. He accepted that she was something he couldn't have THAT way, and he accepted that. This was nothing but a dream, and it would always be like that. It would always hurt, but he wouldn't let it derail his life. She was looking at him now, her smile gone. Her face was blank. She began to walk towards him, her right hand twitching a little.

"Sorry PB. I'm over you, and this isn't even real" Finn said, his sad eyes taking in her form.

Her eyes suddenly widened and an inhuman scream erupted from her mouth causing Finn to jump back. She suddenly began to grow, stretching and morphing before her eyes back into her 18 year old body, the scream becoming low and raspy. Her right hand darted out to her side and he watched in horror as a razor sharp blade extended from the end of each digit on her hand. Finn released his own scream, this was just too much! The claws kept extending until they stuck out a good 8 inches. Bubblegum kept advancing on Finn, speaking in a low, guttural voice.

"You think you can just forget me and get away with it? You little _shit_! You can't reject a _fucking_ princess!"

She took a swing at him and he was barley nimble enough to jump back and dodge it. He could feel the air slice open before him. If he had been even a fraction slower, that would have been his flesh. A horrible smile covered her face, and her eyes were wide and bloodshot, almost totally red. The laugh that flowed over her lips was like nothing he'd ever heard before and if shook him to his very core. His mind was slowly slipping away from the norm and into survival mode, watching her every move. She dashed forward almost faster than he could see, but he somehow managed to be that split second faster as he dove to the side and avoided a deadly strike from those claws. His hand flew to the hilt of his sword but stopped just before reaching it. He glared at the form before him. Could he fight her?

"Stay still you little brat!"

Another lunge, another roll to the side. Could he draw his blade against her?

"C'mon, I'll let you be my plaything!"

That voice grated on him. She dashed towards him, claws at the ready. Could he attack and risk hurting her? He dodged and dove around several more slashes, each getting closer to him than the last. Sweat coated hi whole body, his hands were shaking at his sides. How could he... how could he fight her? How could-

"I'll be _gentle_, I PROMISE!"

It wasn't her. It couldn't be her. This wasn't real... It...

"IT'S NOT REAL!" he cried, drawing his sword and slashing upwards. His attacker stopped and gripped their right wrist. All of the digits plopped to the ground, yellow-green ooze spurting where the fingers used to be.

Finn dove forward and launched his leg ahead of his, driving it into her stomach and launching her away from him. He readied his blade and took a defensive stance, watching as she slowly pulled herself up from the ground. He immediately felt that feeling in his gut grow and twist when he glanced at the hand. It was slowly changing, first the gum melted away, dripping to the ground and leaving only bone. Next, muscle tissue started to form around it, various reds and greens oozing out of it. Tattered, scared skin began to form haphazardly around the muscle mass, burned holes remaining so that the wet muscle remained exposed. Tears began to form in the corners of Finn's eyes, he just wasn't getting what was going on, what was happening to her?

He watched in horror and she stood and laughed that wicked deep laugh, her smile no longer perfect. Her teeth were yellow and jagged, gums nearly black. The crown upon her head dropped to the ground and her hair began to fall away, melting as if a great heat was suddenly inside of her. From the fingertips on the right hand razor claws once more began to push through the flesh, making sickening wet snapping noises as they forced the bones to adjust. She aimed her wicked smile at him again and began to slowly walk towards him. Those eyes... They weren't hers... Something was wrong.

All of his conviction was gone. It was fight or flight time and Fight wasn't around anymore. Finn screeched and took off in the other direction. After only a few steps he nearly slammed into a hedge maze. This wasn't here before, was it? He didn't have time to think about it, he drove right through the entrance and ran like a frightened animal, which wasn't too far from the truth.

_'Oh Gob, oh Gob, oh Gob! What do I do? That's not her... But what is it? And why am I so __scared? I've never felt so scared in my whole life, except for maybe when I was in the ocean, but...'_

His thoughts were suddenly cut off, and once again he heard the giggling of children. He stopped dead, his eyes wide and darting in every conceivable direction. His heart was racing again, his head pounding. From the corner of his eye he saw a small figure run to his left along another corridor in the maze. They were gone before he'd fully turned around but he heard the giggling again. He took off for the corridor, this place wasn't safe for the candy kids, or anyone for that matter. He looked left and right, no good. There were no signs telling him where the kid went, he just had to trust his gut. He moved to his right and slowly went around a few corners trying to remain as silent as possible. He was about to round another corner when he heard little footsteps behind him. We bolted around just in time to see a small pink foot entering the opposite corridor, laughing.

_'Wha? But I came from that way... Glob, what's going on here?!'_

He followed after the child, but the corridor he'd entered seemed so long. He kept a steady pace as he made his way though it with no sign of the child. Every now and then he could hear child-like laughter, sometimes far away, and sometimes so close he thought he should be able to touch somebody. But no one was ever there. He picked up the pace, no longer caring if he was heard. He ran as hard as he could through the maze turning whichever way was closer. Run, he could only run. That's all there was for him now, running, and the hope of escape. He began to hear Bubblegum's sweet voice calling out for him from somewhere, no more of the gravely monster voice, just the clear voice of the princess, calling out to him.

"I'M OVER HERE!" he shouted, "I'M STUCK IN THE-"

He suddenly burst into a clearing, nothing boxing him in any longer.

"-maze..."

He stopped and looked around, noticing that he wasn't alone here. He saw off in the distance 3 candy children, little girls, were playing jump rope. They were wearing bright, white dresses. They were just far enough away that he has to strain to hear what they were saying. They were singing, a rhyme. The two girls on each end of the rope were little candy-corns. The one in the middle was...

_"One, Two, Freddy's coming for you"_

"Princess?"

The little girl in the center was little 13 year old Bubblegum, hoping over the rope, again and again in perfect rhythm.

_"Three, Four, better lock your door"_

Finn stood motionless. What was going on? What did this all mean?

_"Five, Six, grab your crucifix"_

He had to do something... anything! He couldn't just stand here and take it, that's not how he did things.

_"Seven, Eight, gonna stay up late"_

He took a step towards the girls, enough was enough. But all of a sudden, he couldn't move. He felt a pressure on his shoulder.

_"Nine, Ten, never sleep again."_

Finn was paralyzed. He kept his eyes locked forward. He didn't want to see... anything. He didn't want to look at his shoulder, he didn't want to see what was behind him. Slowly, little Bubblegum turned around and looked directly into Finn's eyes. She was quite far away, but he could physically feel her staring at him.

"Freddy's home..." she called, he mouth shaping into a little frown.

Finn was roughly turned around, he didn't even have time to screw his eyes shut. What he saw was... He screamed. He screamed louder and harder than ever in his short life. What he saw was a face, grotesque and flayed. The face was a man's, or what used to me a man's. It was savagely burned, just like the skin he'd seen on the hand earlier. It didn't even cover all of his face, there were great gaping holes where the sickly wet muscle showed through. Finn recoiled at the face stretched into a wretched smile, the muscle tensing and coiling beneath the tattered flesh. The man was wearing a filthy red and green sweater, and on top of his head he had replaced Bubblegum's crown. He gripped Finn's shoulders tightly in both hands and the boy couldn't struggle free.

"Awe, what's the matter? I though you _loved_ me Finn?" he taunted, a laugh booming from his throat. It ripped through Finn, it almost hurt to hear it. Finn's courage finally bounded back.

"YOU'RE NOT REAL! YOU'RE NOT THE PRINCESS!"

The burned man only laughed all the louder, stopping only to display an awful grin.

"Don't be like that. _C'mon, give me some SUGAR_!"

He opened his mouth wide and stuck his tongue out at Finn, who stared wide eyed and screamed as it slowly stretched from the man's mouth and wrapped itself around his throat. Somehow the man was still laughing as he choked the life out of Finn. The hero couldn't move, and slowly his vision was starting to blur, and then blacken. Still with what little breathe he had left he was screaming, and finally he started wrenching about, trying to fight it. The tongue squeezed all the tighter, and suddenly Finn felt a hard pinching feeling on the skin and muscle of his left shoulder. It hurt, he had to scream, he had to-

* * *

"FINN! Wake up man!"

He woke up screaming.

* * *

**Thanks for reading guys, and please drop a Review. It really helps me along and I always love feedback. Or praise, praise is nice. Hell, even a flame, go for it. Not too harsh now...**


	3. Rude Awakening

**Here we are again, another chapter! Setting the stage, hope you like it.**

**SCIK1012 & StarKnight2.0 -Glad you're both enjoying this, and thank you so much for reviewing. While I'm really enjoying writing this story as it is, the reveiws really help push me along.**

**DISCLAIMER - I DON'T OWN ANY CHARACTERS SO FAR. DEAL WITH IT.**

* * *

He woke up screaming.

He continued to do so for a solid minute, thrashing and kicking. He'd long ago ripped himself out of his sleeping bag during the night and it lay in a heap beneath him. The only thing holding him in place were Jake's arms stretched over his brother and wrapped around the bottom of the bed. He was making a high-pitched whine as he held his brother down. Finn had been restless most of the night, tossing and rolling in his little cocoon, the occasional word escaping his mouth. Jake had sprung awake, jumping out of his drawer/bed and landing flat on his face as Finn had begun screaming only moments before. First Jake had tried to shake his brother back to reality but opted to hold him down after being clubbed by a flailing arm.

"Finn! Finn buddy, snap out of it!" Jake yelled, stretching one of his hands up and slowly stroking the top of Finn's head. Eventually Finn's screams subsided and he just lay there, his breath coming in quick gasps, his eyes wide. There were large bags under his eyes and he was coated in a thick sheen of sweat. Jake stared down at his brother, his round eyes full of concern. He'd never seen Finn this scared, not since he had tried to get Finn to get over his fear of the ocean.

_'My face hurts just thinkin' about it'_ Jake thought to himself, remembering that Finn had been so overcome with his fear that he'd added a few lumps to his brother's melon. Jake watched as Finn's breathing evened out, his arms limp at his sides.

"You alright bro? That was one doozy of a dream you were having."

Finn didn't reply, if anything he sucked on his lips and finally looked up at Jake. As he looked into his brother's eyes, Jake's heart almost broke, Finn was trying so hard not to cry. He whined and continued to stroke Finn's head as the tears finally streamed from Finn's eyes. This went on for a good 5 minutes or so, and soon enough Finn's quiet sobs subsided and he just lay motionless on the bed staring at the ceiling. Jake had never felt so bad in his whole life seeing Finn like he was now and it really tore him up. He gave Finn a final stroke on the top of his head before issuing a long sigh.

"You ready for me to let go?"

Finn numbly nodded in response. Jake slowly retracted his arms, releasing the yellow coils that were just before holding Finn down. He quickly sat up, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around the front of his legs. Jake stayed standing at the foot of the bed, stretched just tall enough to see Finn's face. His brother just stared ahead into space, his knuckles clenched and white.

"Finn, you've got me super worried bro. Maybe this is something you should shove in the vault? At least until maybe..."

Jake trailed off, not finishing the sentence. His eyes sunk to the floor. Until what? Until Finn could deal with it? Could he ever, with the way he was acting now?

_'Sure he could'_ Jake thought to himself, _'It was just a really bad dream. I mean, it scared the juice out of his gourd, but he'll get over it. Dreams fade over time. I don't even remember what I dreamed last night...'_

"C'mon Finn... I'll... I'll be downstairs if you need me, alright? I'll get some B-fast on the table and we'll figure this thing out, K?"

Finn only nodded in response, his form still tense on the bed. As Jake went downstairs Finn clenched his eyes shut. Everything was still for fresh in his mind, the Princess, the burned man, the claws... he quickly shook his head, unwanted tears flowing once more from his face. He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands as he released his knees. Wasn't it just a dream? Just a really bad one, the worst ever. He'd had nightmares before, sure, but nothing like this. He'd never been so crippled by a dream, so jacked up inside. He choked back a sob and tried to-

_'Choked.'_

His hands shot up to his neck, the memory of the nightmare so fresh that he could almost still feel the foul tongue crushing the breath from his throat. He felt along the bottom of his hat, his hands quickly drawing away as a dull ache responded to his touch. He leapt from his bed and raced to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror he carefully removed his hat, his golden hair slipping down the middle of his back. He gasped at what he saw, his fingers hovering over it but not daring to touch. His neck had dark purple bruises all the way around, right where the burned man had been... But it was just a dream, it couldn't be real, but he was still hurt, this wasn't right, no no no no no no n-

Finn's brain clicked. Enough pressure had finally built, the reality of the situation was just too much to take, if he had acknowledged it any further he would have snapped and gone right over the edge. He quickly put his hat back on, covering the bruises and grinned as he went back to his room to change out of his PJs. His mind had totally shut the memory of the nightmare away, repressing it just to the left of the back of his mind. Dressed back in his usual attire Finn leapt down to the main floor of the house with a goofy grin spreading across his face. He gave a big stretch as he walked into the kitchen, triggering a few pops from his joints. Jake looked over immediately as he came into the room, his eyes full of concern.

"Hey bro, you feeling better?"

Finn nodded happily, taking a seat at the table.

"Yeah man, a good night's sleep is just what I needed after kicking major butt yesterday."

"So you don't remember anything about your dream last night or... this morning?"

A small frown appeared on Finn's face and he thought about it for a second. After a moment he just shook his head, smiling again.

"Nope, I don't remember anything I dreamed last night... Dreams are funny like that, huh?"

Jake opted only to nod and turn back to the stove. As he stirred a pan full of scrambled eggs with one hand he wiped his forehead with the other, breathing out a quiet sigh of relief. His frown flipped over as he stretched his arm over to the cupboard to fetch a couple of plates.

_'Alright, he's locked that thing away in the vault. What a relief... I guess it can't really be healthy if he keeps this up in the long run... But right now it's totally for the best. Right?'_

Jake's smile flipped right back over and his forehead wrinkled up into a scowl.

"Yo homie, what'd you whip up? Smells totally math."

Jake's face went blank and he quickly worked up a smile before turning around.

"Scrambled eggs, toasty bread, and bacon fresh from Meat Man, bro!"

Finn raised his eyebrow, still smiling.

"Hey, I thought you weren't going to eat the meat from Meat Man anymore?"

"Heh heh, yeah. I was gonna go through with that but... Well where else are we gonna get bacon? I don't think Treetrunks would appreciate us eating her man, ya get me?"

Finn shrugged an laughed. He thought about it, Meat Man never really looked distressed or anything when they got meat off of him, and he never complained. Okay, so the dude couldn't talk, but he could still try to stop them if it bothered him, right?

Jake dropped two empty plates on the table and stretched his B-fast feast over. The brothers mowed down on the feast in front of them, Finn feeling excessively hungry for some reason. Suddenly he stopped eating and looked up, seeing only a small pile of eggs left in the pan. He glanced over at the tiny chair at the end of the table, noticing it empty.

"Where's Beemo? He doesn't usually miss breakfast, even though he can only pretend to eat and stuff..."

"He left a few minutes before you came down, something about a secret robot meeting or something. I think he's just gone somewhere to be alone so he can do more weird stuff or some junk."

Finn nodded, shoveling the rest of his plate into his mouth. A righteous belch thundered from Jake's face and both brothers laughed. Jake smiled and cleared the table, pretty much just by picking up the table-cloth by all of the corners and wrapping it up. He walked over to the window with it, intending to toss it out.

_'Yeah, this is how it should be. We're two carefree dudes laughin' and eatin'. Today was already bad, so it can't get bad again right? That's like, the rules or somethin.'_

Jake tossed the bundle out the window and he heard it land with a satisfying crash followed by a scream.

"Wait a sec, that last part doesn't usually happen..."

He looked out the window to see a small gumdrop man crawl out from under the clingy fabric and broken plates.

"Sorry about that dude! Just a little cleanup, you know how it is." Jake shrugged apologetically. Finn placed his hand on Jake's shoulder.

"Dude, you can't just be tossing your junk all up in people's stuff. Check before you chuck man."

"Sorry man, I didn't know it was wrong."

Finn couldn't argue with that logic. They both looked down at the gumdrop man, who looked extremely distressed. They went down a level and went to the door. Was he really that shaken up from a little accidental trashing? Maybe they were lucky he didn't blow up... As they went outside the little guy started talking to them, but it all came out to fast and all they could make out was a garbled mess. Finn took a knee and gently grasped him by the shoulders.

"It's alright man, just take a deep breath and take it slow. What's shakin'?"

The candy person calmed himself and took that breath, finally. He looked between the two brothers, looking almost scared enough to pop.

"There's an emergency in the kingdom and her majesty, Princess Bubblegum, requests your presence. You've gotta come right away! NOW!"

Finn nodded and picked up the little guy, placing him onto the back of his head where he seemed pretty content to just hang on. He ducked inside to grab his backpack and sword, closing the door when he came back out. Jake looked up at his brother, his tail wagging at the prospect of an exciting day.

"Hey Jake, you know what time it is?"

"Oh yeah brother!"

"Adventure Time!" they cried in unison, fists crashing together.

* * *

Jake stretched his legs in giant steps across the grasslands with Finn sitting on his back. Finn was holding the gumdrop man to his chest for the trip, he didn't want the little guy to accidentally fall off of his head and leave a smoking fear crater in the ground...

"So little guy, can you tell us anything about this emergency we're running to? Is Ice King snatching the princess again? Is there another Zombie outbreak? Naw, I though Peebles finally got the-"

"No! The Princess is fine, but the people of the candy kingdom have been attacked! There were nearly two dozen murders last night!" he squealed, and Finn felt some heat building in the little guy.

"Whoa man! Keep it cool, I don't need you exploding all over the place. Just keep it cool."

"But that's not the worst part..."

Jake's head stretched back to his two passengers, a look of concern on his face.

"What could be worse than all those murders? That's about as bad as it gets..."

"It's the victims," he said, tears springing up in his little eyes, "they were all children..."

He gently sobbed into Finn's chest for the remainder of the trip to the Candy Kingdom, and no one felt like talking after that.

* * *

As they walked through the gates they could tell right away the kingdom was not going to recover quickly from this, the atmosphere felt like a heavy pressure on their chests. The streets were nearly bare, and the candy people who were out in the open were a wreck, some leaned up against buildings sobbing, and more than a few could be seen drinking from poorly hidden bottles of Butter-Scotch. Wails could be heard from throughout the kingdom, parents mourning over what they'd lost, siblings left without their constant playmate. Windows were shattered in the corners of some of the houses they spied walking past, some of the children getting seemingly scared enough to explode in the night. The boys could barely take it, and deep down were wishing that it had simply just been another kidnapping by Ice King, but this...

"Who did this?" Finn said evenly, his face set grimly, his eyes narrowed. The gumdrop man just shook his head and wiped his eyes.

"W-we don't know... Whoever did it was gone before anyone woke up... They j-just..." he shut his eyes tight and began to shake violently. Jake acted quickly and stretched, wrapping himself tightly around the little guy.

"Hold on there, little dude. Just simmer down before you make a mess of the sidewalk brittle, 'kay?" He simply nodded and Jake set him back down.

They continued the rest of the walk towards the castle in silence. Finn could barely stand seeing the people of the kingdom so miserable, usually the Candy Kingdom was one of the happiest places he could think of to visit, the sugary populace having parties or celebrations of some kind every other day. Today though... Everything was wrong. No one in the entire kingdom was smiling, even Jake, who was rarely bothered by much of anything. His usually robust and jolly personality was subdued by the gravity of the situation, and the notion of cracking a joke to lighten the mood didn't even cross his mind. Nothing he could think of was funny right now, and he felt that if he tried to lighten the mood he would just make everyone more depressed, so he just kept walking.

As they got closer to the castle Finn glanced towards the gardens off to the right of the archway and a great chill rushed up his spine. He kept looking at it as they walked, wondering what was so unsettling about plants... He looked away from the foliage and walked as far away from the gardens as he could, his brain keeping his train of thought as far away from it as possible. Jake watched his brother as they walked, noticing his eye twitching a little, a sign he'd learned over the years that meant that Finn's mind was having trouble keeping something all locked up. Sometimes something was just too big to fit into his vault... He clenched his little fists and continued on, he'd have to help Finn deal with this when this was all over...

The castle they entered was is a state of near chaos, sugary folk running this way and that. The boys had left their messenger at the gates and thanked him for coming to them. They gently pushed past and through the throngs of distressed and depressed candy people, most of which seemed to be trying to keep their minds busy with one task or another. As they approached the throne room they could clearly hear the Princess giving orders to her subjects to begin a proper investigation into the previous night's murders. Finn and Jake entered the room as she was finishing.

"And I want you to report back to me within the hour with more details, is that understood?"

"Yes your majesty, I'll make it quick."

"No," she said firmly, raising her voice a level and keeping steady eye contact with the Captain of the Banana Guard, "you will take your time with this investigation, don't rush and miss anything. You will take in all you can and make your report back to me. Now go."

The Captain silently took a bow, taking his leave along with a troop of the guard. Finn and Jake took steps to the side letting them by. Following the path of her guards, Bubblegum's eyes fell upon her friends and resident heroes. A small smile graced her face for a moment but was gone in the next.

"I'm glad you two could make it under such short notice." she stated, motioning for them to come closer.

"I wish it were under better... uh..." Finn paused, a sharp pain shooting through his head. His hand rose to his forehead and he winced.

"Circumstances, yes Finn. I wish that were the case as well, but with the current situation we are likely seeing the beginning of some very dark days for my kingdom. I'm sad to say that I don't know if there is much you can do to help with the investigation itself since you two are more of the 'butt-kicking' persuasion than precise facts and investigation, but I really feel better knowing that the two of you are here with me. Thank you both so much."

"We're here for you PB, and we'll help in any way we can. Ow..." Finn rubbed his forehead, the pain darting though his skull again. Jake stared up at his brother, a low whine escaping him. Bubblegum noticed this and glanced at Jake.

"Is he alright?" she asked, concerned. Even given the current situation she couldn't ignore the wellbeing of those close to her. Her Kingdom would always come first but right now everything in that regard was being handled as well as it could be, so right now she could afford to worry about her friends. Jake looked up at her and forced a quick smile.

"Heh, oh yeah. Finn's fine, he just had a bit of a rough night is all." Jake said quickly, his eyes quickly shifting back to his brother. Finn lowered his hand and gave his head a small shake.

"Yeah, just a small headache. Nothing to lose your cabbage over Peebles." he said, a weak smile slipping across his lips. Bubblegum was definitely suspicious but decided not to pry, her mind drifting back to the issue at hand.

"So what's the scoop, Princess?" Jake asked, "What do we know so far?" The Princess simply shook her head.

"Not much I'm afraid. The murders themselves don't seem to be executed all in the same fashion, and the killer's modus operandi is still unclear. While we-"

"Whoa whoa, slow down PB," Finn interrupted, "could you keep it simple for me and Jake? I try to follow you when I can, but... I really just wanna make sure I get everything you're saying, especially right now. Sorry for being dumb..." Finn finished, his gaze turning to the floor, his mouth drawn into a frown. Bubblegum shook her head and gave him a genuine smile.

"No Finn, really, it's ok. I understand, and you're not dumb," Finn looked up at this, his frown slipping away, "You might not be booksmart or anything like that, but you can do many things that I can't Finn. You can instinctively come up with a strategy in the heat of battle, you know how to handle certain foes in an instant and your swordsmanship is nearly unmatched. Don't sell yourself short Finn the Human, you're plenty smart in your own way."

Across Finn's face spread the first real smile since he'd entered the kingdom today.

"Thanks PB, that means a lot to hear."

"And what I said before was basically that almost no 2 killings were done the same way, and we have no idea WHY the killer is doing it." She explained. Finn nodded, actually understanding the explanation. Again his brow furrowed but his brother beat him to the question.

"But why's it just kids? That's just sick man." Jake said, growling with his words.

"Once again, we don't know anything about the killer's motivations or methods. We only received the report of the murders early this morning and the investigation into it has only just begun. We'll know more shortly, for now why don't you two just retire to my study. I'll be along shortly, there are a few things I have to attend to."

The two nodded as Bubblegum excused herself, quickly making her way out of the throne room. The boys went in the opposite direction and they made their way down a set of stairs, noticing how quiet this part of the castle was. As they entered the study they were surprised to find Peppermint Butler stoking a fireplace in the far wall of the room, a platter containing cups, saucers and a steaming pot of steeping tea sitting on a table before the flames. He looked up as the brothers entered, a kind smile on his round face.

"Greetings, Master Finn and Master Jake. How may I be of service?" he asked, the fire cheerfully crackling behind him. The scene seemed so... out of place, considering the situation the kingdom was in.

"Hey, shouldn't you be out there helping Bubblegum?" Jake asked, skeptical as to how the preparation of this room was really helping anything. The Butler just gave a small chuckle and motioned for the boys to take a seat by the fire.

"I understand that my tasks here don't seem to be helping the situation the kingdom is in, but in a way they are. This is the Princess' personal study, where she comes to unwind and calm her thoughts. Her responsibility right now is to the kingdom, and my responsibility is to her wellbeing. When she finishes with the business at hand, which is the darkest that this kingdom has seen in many years, she will return here. I've prepared the room to be as normal and welcoming as possible for her, a place where she can collect her thoughts and deservedly relax. In doing this I'm helping her stay at her best, and therefore helping the kingdom as a result."

The brothers stared at Peppermint Butler with mouths hanging open and wide, adoring eyes.

"That's just deep man... I just thought you did busy work around here, I didn't think there was a bloopin' awesome master plan behind all of it. You the man !" cried Jake. The Butler merely shook his head, his smile still upon his face.

"Nonsense, Master Jake. I'm simply the help. Nothing more, nothing less."

Finn leaned back into the cushy chair he had sank into a few moments ago with a smile on his face, the setting having a positive effect on him as well. Suddenly Peppermint Butler became rigid, his smile disappearing and his lips drawing tight. He sniffed the air and turned to face Finn directly, his eyes wide with surprise. Finn met his gaze, becoming a bit unnerved with this sudden attention. The Princess' trusted servant was only a few feet away.

"You've seen it." it wasn't a question. Finn looked confused. He'd seen what?

"What're you talking about dude?" questioned Jake, casting a worried look his brother's way.

"He's seen the one that was visiting our children last night. I can smell something... Old on him."

Finn leapt out of his chair, his head suddenly throbbing with pain.

"I don't know what you're talking about dude! You're freaking me the stuff out!" Finn yelled, his hands clutching the sides of his head. Jake climbed up and watched this over the back of his chair, a sincere look of worry covering his face.

"You were visited as you slept, you're lucky to be alive..."

The pain in his head spiked up and Finn fell to one knee. Peppermint Butler walked up and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"What are you talking about? Nothing happened last night I- OW!" Finn cried out, the pain becoming unbearable. Jake whined from the chair, he couldn't stand seeing Finn like this, especially not twice in one day.

"Your dream homie, let it out man. It's too big to pack away, you just need to let it out..." Jake said softly. The words reached Finn through his pain and he looked up into Jake's eyes.

"Wha? What're you-"

"LET IT OUT OF THE GOBBIN' VAULT FINN! IT'S TEARING YOU APART!"

Finn's eyes widened, painful tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Jake, I told you. I didn't have any dreams last night," one of his hands slowly lowered down to his neck, he didn't even notice. "I don't even remember anyth-OW!" his hand touched the bruise on his neck and he recoiled from the new pain along his throat. He began to shake, only steadied by Peppermint Butler's unexpectedly strong grip on his shoulders.

"No, this is wrong. I... Last night... I... I..."

Finn was literally vibrating in 's arms, the doors to his vault shaking deep in his mind. Jake jumped over the back of the chair and rushed towards his brother when PB suddenly entered the room, a tired smile on her face with the thought or returning to her warm study. She had the extreme misfortune of walking in on what was going down.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I just had to-" she stopped cold, her eyes taking measure of the scene before her.

"PB, now might not be the best ti-"

Finn's brain clicked, and the floodgates opened. He screamed out cutting off Jake's warning. His physical pain was replaced with new emotional pain. The events of the previous night and this morning all came flooding back to him. Every little detail flashed before his eyes, every sight, smell, every touch. He remembered everything.

And he just kept screaming.

* * *

**Here it ends, for now. I'll whip up another chapter in the next day or two once I work out the next rough draft. I hope you liked this chapter, and please review. See you at chapter 3!**


	4. Deal With It

**It took me a week, but here's another chapter, finally! Sorry it took so long, but I've been a mite busy. Heard it before? Tough.  
Seriously though, I'm so happy you guys put up with me. Sorry to say that you're gonna be waiting a bit more for the next chapter as I'm going MIA with a few friends for the next coupel of days, but once I get back I fully intend to get cracking on more of Chapter 4!**

DubbleDuelSword - **There's more to come, trust me. Not in this chapter, but the next has some Nightmares planned. Promise.  
**SCIK1012 - **Thanks, I've always like myself. Such a Mysterious character that they just haven't explored yet.  
**StarKnight2.0 - **Thanks, will do!  
**whaleloverrr - **Here it is!**  
HayaMika - **Gotta Cliff it sometimes. Read on!  
**Sweetums128neo - **Yes, and here's more.  
**padraig duffy **- Thanks!**  
PS2wizard**- Anything could happen, and thanks for the review bundle! Here's some more.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed, really. Here's the latest chapter!**

**DISCLAIMER : I STILL DON'T OWN ANYTHING.**

* * *

Princess Bubblegum sat in a chair by the fire, a cup of tea steaming in her hands. Jake sat in the chair right beside her, his eyes darting to their right every other second. He was a wreck, and it showed. The Princess on the other hand managed to keep her composure, at least on the outside. Her eyes clearly shone with worry and her face was a clear mask of concern. Inside she was starting to fall apart because she had just witnessed the one person she thought, in her heart of hearts, was in almost every way unbeatable, break. It had been nearly half an hour since she had come into the room, only to see her Hero fall.

She had just closed a meeting with her advisors, a meeting that went pretty much nowhere. Nothing like this had ever happened on the Candy Kingdom before, at least not on this scale. Of course even in the happy and sweet kingdom there had been bad apples in the past, candy coated, but with bitter intentions. But they were isolated cases few and far between, this sort of mass-murder was totally unheard of. She and her advisors were all looking for answers, but all they got were arguments. No one could agree on one way to deal with the situation. The only sure thing that was decided that day was that they would call for a gathering of the leadership of Ooo to ask for any help they could provide with this situation.

Bubblegum had left that meeting thinking that she had felt emotionally exhausted, but it was nothing compared to what she felt right now. When Finn had broken down screaming it was only a matter of minutes before Peppermint Butler managed to move him into the next room, but to her it seemed like days. Just looking into his eyes almost crushed her, the look of confidence that was always there was gone, his eyes now housing a fear that made his reaction to the Lich seem like jump scare at a camp fire.

Jake was continuously looking between the fire and the door to the next room. Finn had stopped screaming about 20 minutes ago, and now the only thing Jake could hear through the door was the occasional sob. Jake wanted so bad to be in there, to triple in size and just pull Finn into his lap, wrap him in his arms and just tell him everything would be alright. It might sound super mushy, but this was his brother he was thinking about. He'd only ever done it once before, when their parents had died. Jake had swollen up and wrapped Finn in his embrace, the two of them riding out the worst of their pain together. But as much as he wanted to right now he couldn't, Peppermint Butler had told no one to enter the room once he got Finn inside. Jake was ready to clobber him at the time before the Princess had insisted that her butler be given the chance to help Finn recover. Jake had reluctantly retreated to the fire-side, his front paws wringing together nervously as he waited for the screams to subside.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Bubblegum's hand gently grasped his shoulder.

"He's going to be alright Jake. We have to believe that... that Finn can beat anything... that he..." she stopped speaking, her voice faltering. Jake looked up to see a tear rolling down her cheek and her lips had pursed, her lower lip trembling. He was a little ashamed, she was being so strong right now, just so he wouldn't feel worse. He reached up and wiped the tear away, a look of surprise dawning on her face. She looked down to see Jake wearing a sad smile.

"Of course he's gonna be alright, he's Finn!" he said. She gave her own little smile and nodded. Their moment was cut short by the appearance of the Captain of the Guard. He entered, his face looking stressed. He gave a deep bow and Bubblegum took the opportunity to compose herself again.

"Your highness, I'm here to report our findings so far." he said, straightening. The Princess nodded and motioned for him to continue. Jake straightened in his chair and focused, no small feat for the dog. The Banana Guard tightened the grip on his spear, getting things straight in his head before speaking.

"So far, my Princess, things don't seem so well..."

* * *

He didn't know how he'd managed to calm down so suddenly at the start when Peppermint Butler had dragged him into the room. All he could think to do was scream, it was the only thing that made sense, the only reaction to the terror he was feeling. Finn remembered getting pulled forward by a small yet strong set of arms until he was looking Peppermint Butler in the eyes, his... now glowing eyes. Then it stopped, he stopped screaming. He suddenly started to feel almost numb inside, like his emotions were suddenly covered up by a big blanket or something. He didn't feel scared anymore, in fact, he didn't really feel much of anything anymore.

"Keep strong lad, this feeling won't last forever. This is just something to help you relax for the time being, and in just a few moments you'll feel it start to fade. Now, Master Finn, tell me everything while you can."

Peppermint Butler sat in a chair directly in front of Finn, his eyes locked with the boy's. Finn told him everything of his dream the previous night, absolutely everything. Nothing was left out. The little butler didn't judge Finn for any of it, he was just a boy. Finn actually felt a lot lighter now, actually telling someone everything about what had gone on had somehow taken a lot of pressure off of his mind. He absently rubbed his face, wiping away the last of his tears.

It had taken Finn about 15 minutes or so to describe everything, and during that time he had felt his emotions flowing back into him, the numbness slowly creeping away. He managed to tell everything he needed to before the numbness was totally gone, but even with all of his feelings back he still felt, more or less, in control. It was like just talking about it and accepting what he's gone through gave him a bit of power over it. He wasn't back to normal by any means, but he wasn't going to spend the rest of the day screaming either.

When he was finished, Finn leaned forward and held his head in his hands. Everything was still fresh in his mind, so vivid. Normally his dreams lingered for a few moments after waking up, but this... Was it even a dream?

"Peppermint, can I ask you something?"

The little mint just nodded silently and Finn raised his face from his palms.

"What I had last night, that wasn't just a normal dream, was it?" Finn asked, his hands clasping to his knees. The little Butler shook his head, his face unreadable.

"I can't say for certain young master, but there is a high chance that this is more than just a case of night terrors. The man you described to me, this burned man, have you ever seen him in Ooo anywhere before? A chance meeting with him long ago, or just a face in the crowd perhaps?" he asked his hands clasping before him. Finn shook his head.

"Naw, I'd remember a face like that one. I've never seen him before, just up here." Finn said, pointing to his head. Peppermint Butler nodded again and closed his eyes.

"Then I fear we may be stuck in quite the predicament, Master Finn. Not that I should jump to conclusions..." Finn grimaced, the little one was holding something back.

"What'chu talkin' 'bout Pep But?" Finn asked. The peppermint just quickly shook his head.

"I can say no more, my dear boy. If things turn out to support my suspicions I will gladly share what little I know. But until then, please forget I said anything. I wouldn't want to cause worry over nothing, some things are best left unsaid." Finn nodded, a small but sincere smile curling the corner of his mouth.

"No worries . After what you did for me today I think I can afford to keep a few secrets for you. One question though, you think you can teach me that trick you used to calm me down earlier? I think that would be some pretty algebraic junk to know for the future, you know?"

"Master Finn, I don't think that would be possible. It's kind of something you have to be born with, so to speak." said the little butler, a smile creasing his glossy face. Finn's smile broadened a little.

"Alright dude, but you gotta promise to at least tell me what you did to me, the secret to the trick when this is all over."

"You have my word, Master Finn." They both looked each other in the eyes again and managed to share a small laugh together, a mood now in the room that was a fair contrast to what was being felt in the next.

* * *

"And that is all I have to report, Princess." concluded the guard, a grim look upon each face in the room. Jake slumped in his chair, his mind still processing everything he had just heard. He was super bummed out about everything now, not only was his brother being driven bazonks, but now...

"That will be all, thank you Captain. Please, get some rest and then return to the investigation." ordered the Princess. She had bags under her eyes from both the early morning and the current stress she was under. The guard captain gave a deep bow and took his leave. She looked over at Jake and saw just how depressed he was from hearing all of this.

"Jake, why don't you go see Lady? I'm sure she's in her room in the far tower right now". Jake glanced up at the Princess, his face unchanged but his tail gave a few wags behind him.

"I don't think I should, Bubblegum. I mean, with Finn in there and-"

"Finn's going to be fine Jake. You go see Lady, you're a wreck and you know it." she interrupted, a concerned look on her face combined with a small, knowing smile. Jake nodded and hopped out his chair.

"You're right PB, thanks. I'll go track her down. Can you keep and eye on Finn for me if I go? I don't wanna leave him by himself for today, you know what I mean?" he asked, his hands wringing before him again. Bubblegum nodded and made a shooing motion with her hands to which Jake offered a small smile and plodded from the room. She sat back in her chair and set aside he tea, now long since cold. She let her mind run over the developments she had just heard, analyzing everything a few times. The whole situation just seemed so outlandish, even for Ooo. Suddenly and idea was forming her mind, a possible remedy for her kingdom. If she could just...

She jumped and a small yell escaped her lips as the door to her right opened with Finn and Peppermint Butler stepping back into the study, each of them wearing a smile.

"Finn! You're back! Are... are you okay?" she asked. Finn's smile disappeared and he nodded. He walked over to the fire to join his friend and plopped down in the chair that Jake had been in only a few minutes ago. The Princess looked to her butler who simply smiled and nodded while pouring her a fresh cup of tea. She gave a sigh of relief inside, she worried that Finn had simply repressed the memory again. Jake had explained to her how Finn would sometimes repress his worst experiences instead of dealing with them directly, and sometimes it wasn't a conscious decision. Finn gazed towards the fire as Peppermint Butler brought over a fresh cup of tea, with plenty of sugar.

"Have we learned anything further, Milady?" asked the butler respectfully. This brought Finn's gaze back from the flames, and Bubblegum's from deepened as she nodded.

"I'm afraid so. The Captain left shortly before you both came back. He had some very disturbing news, and this whole situation is going to take some time to mend."

"What are we dealing with here PB? What do we know?" asked Finn, his face serious.

"Well from what I've just been told, Dr. Ice Cream performed autopsies on a few of the victims, and it seems that while their wounds were the obvious cause of death, it seems that they were all sleeping when they died. However, some of them didn't die by the killer's hands specifically. You already know that candy people have a tendency to... erhm... explode under extreme stress of fear." Finn nodded, he remembered seeing the some of the shattered windows on his way through the kingdom.

"In a way, and I feel terrible saying it, but those children may have been the lucky ones. Regardless, we aren't just dealing with a body count here. The Captain has informed me that there is also a large group of children now under observation in the hospital, survivors. Some of them have minor wounds and others are undergoing psychiatric help. They're describing their experiences leading up to their attack but they seem delusional, most acting as if they weren't in their homes the last night, some claim to be in a forest or meadow, some say they were in the castle, while others claim to be in some fantastical fantasy land. These would normally be disregarded as children's tales, but there is one common element to all of their stories, whether it took place at home or at the bottom of a lake. They all described the same attacker."

Finn looked sceptical, who could attack to many people in one night and not get caught?

"What'd the creep look like? Is he some sick candy person gone sour or something?" asked Finn, his right eyebrow arched.

"No Finn, I don't think he's from the kingdom at all. He's humanoid at least, but the description from the children was almost always the same. He wears a dirty red and green sweater..."

Finn froze, trying desperately to show no reaction on his face.

"And he's got a battered brown hat and dark pants..."

His mouth opened, panic shining in his eyes. Peppermint Butler stopped idly tidying and turned to face the conversation by the fire.

"His skin is horribly burned, and on his right hand-"

"He's got a clawed glove," Finn whispered, "and he's got a laugh that cuts right through you." his voice was gaining volume as he spoke.

"Yes Finn, but-"

"He likes kids, for all the wrong reasons, and he always, always knows what scares you. Even if you don't..." he finished, tears building up in his eyes, his lower lip slightly quivering. He looked down suddenly as Peppermint Butler placed a hand on his arm, reassuring the young teen.

"Peppermint, how does Finn know all of this?" she asked, fear seeping into her mind.

"Because, Princess" he said looking up into her eyes, "I fear young Master Finn is a victim of the same attacker as the rest of the children." The Princess couldn't comprehend what she was hearing. Having a killer strike all over the kingdom was one thing, but to have him attack Finn out in the Grasslands at the same time?

"But how is that possible? How can a killer be in so many place at once? And as far away as the Tree house all in one night?" she exclaimed, her face showing the stress of the morning.

"Because Milady, they are being attacked while they sleep, _in their dreams_."

She let out a gasp. Her first thought was to deny it all right away, things like that just didn't happen. She was about to voice her denial when she stole a glance at Finn, who looked like he had just realized something.

"Finn, you don't believe this, do you? People have nightmares all the time, and you can't be killed by your dreams." Finn looked over to her, his eyes seeming to look through her.

"I don't know what I believe PB, but I know what's happened to me. What Pep But's saying makes enough sense to me. The dude must be coming after us in our dreams, that would make sense of all the weird places the kids say they were attacked, cause you can dream of anywhere. That would also explain why none of the parents saw or caught the guy doing it, he wasn't really there. He was here." Finn finished, pointing to his head. Bubblegum's face flushed, her face frowning.

"Finn, that's absurd! Listen to what you're saying. You expect me to believe my kingdom is under attack by a dream serial killer? You can't get hurt from your dreams, it's never real!"

Finn's eyes glared back at her. Why was she being to stubborn about this? Anything was possible, and just because you couldn't explain it with science doesn't mean it couldn't happen.

"He uses our fear to make it real PB, just like everything always feels real at first in a dream. He takes what makes us afraid and that makes him strong enough not just to hurt us in our dreams, but to make it real enough to us that it happens to our bodies while we sleep!" Finn yelled, gaining confidence with every word. He was standing now, the Princess matching his glare.

"Finn! That's impossible! That's-"

"**DO YOU THINK I DID THIS TO MYSELF**?" he screamed at her. His hands flew to his head and he pulled off his bear hat, revealing the sickly bruises all along his throat. The Princess let out another gasp. Her face softened and she couldn't help but let her eyes roam over the bruised flesh of his neck.

"Finn... I-"

"Just before I woke up last night, he was strangling me. He was choking me so tight that I never though I'd wake up. If Jake hadn't shaken me awake, I probably wouldn't be here right now. Whatever he does to you in there is real. He makes it real. If you die in your dream, I'm betting that you die out here too." Finn said, his eyes hidden by his golden hair, no doubt in tears. Bubblegum stood and approached him. She reached out to embrace him but couldn't help but be a little hurt when he flinched away from her.

"Finn?"

He looked up at her, reaching up to shove his hair away from his eyes. What did she see in his eyes? Was it guilt? No, fear. He sat down, slowly putting his hat back on and concealing his hair, as well as his bruises. Her face now showed nothing but concern for the crushed hero before her. She looked down when her faithful servant tugged at her dress.

"Don't take it personally, Princess. In the dream the killer first attacked him in the guise of yourself and toyed with the boy's emotions. It's nothing you did, but it will take some time for him to come to terms with it all, the normal way this time."

The Princess nodded, her frown unchanged. What horrible things had her fake done in the dream? What had the killer done in the other children's dreams... So many dead, so many-

"Oh!" she exclaimed, a small smile springing to her face. Finn looked up, the sadness leaving his own face.

"What is it PB?" he asked, standing up as well. She was almost bouncing with excitement.

"It's what I almost though of when you both came into the room. I was just thinking of all the deaths from last night-"

"PB..."

"Let me finish, Finn. The deaths are horrible, I know, but I can fix it?"

"Huh?" Finn grunted. Now she was the one that wasn't making sense.

"Finn, my _Decorpsinator Serum_!"

Finn's eyes widened and a smile spread over his face.

"Oh yeah!"

"I can fix this Finn, with science!"

* * *

**And here we end, for now! Some progress into Chapter 4 has been made and I'll finish it up when I come back from a little trip. Thanks for your support, and please drop me a reveiw, it helps!**


	5. Empty

**Finally, I've returned! I've been kind of drained since my trip so I apologize in advance if this chapter doesn't advance too much. Very little sleep and drowsy meds may not have been the best muse for writing this chapter, but I've been wrong before.**

SCIK1012 - **True enough, but after two outbreaks we can only hope she's got the formula down now.  
**DubbleDuelSword - **Anything could happen, and thanks.  
**Guest - **To each their own.  
**SkyRANDOMNESS - **Continue I shall, and I'm glad you dig it. Slendy, eh? Maybe. I'll tack that one down for the future.  
**StarKnight2.0 - **Thanks. Read on.**

**Thanks for all the review so far guys. I truly appreciate it.**

**DISCLAIMER : BOOGITY**

* * *

Beakers clinked and liquids bubbled over little, contained flames. Colours flashed and there were little puffs of smoke here and there. The room was a scene of organized chaos. Nothing seemed to connect to each other but everything bubbled and gurgled in a steady harmony. Some beakers filled while others fed their fluids out through a series of tubes.

Finn sat off to the side of the room with a very bored look on his face. He watched as Bubblegum dashed about the room, taking measurements of one container and then jumping to adjust the temperature of one of the flames. Every move she made caused her lab coat to flare out behind her and perspiration ran down her face around a pair of safety goggles. Shadowing her movements was a small Candy-Corn Rat which dashed from table to table, occasionally adding various powders to a beaker or handing the Princess a test tube filled with another additive. Finn let out a great sigh, totally left out of the process. Bubblegum whirled around and lifter her goggles to her forehead, a frown on her face.

"What's wrong Finn?" she asked, her pet keeping the process going behind her. Finn looked over at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno, PB. When you said that you were gonna fix this with 'Science', I thought I'd be helping you with all of this sciencey junk. Not, well, 'Science'" he said, pointing to the rat that was rushing about. The Princess just smiled and shook her head.

"I know you want to help Finn, but you know yourself that you're not very good at 'sciencey junk'. I have to get the serum just right and only Science and I know how to properly create it. I'd let you help, but-"

"It's okay Princess" he said cutting her off, his smile spreading across his face, "I get it, we gotta this right. You and Science can handle this, and I'll go see if I can help out somewhere with the stuff I'm good at." He hopped off of his chair and watched as Bubblegum moved the goggles back over her eyes.

"Good idea Finn. I'll call for you when I'm finished. Why don't you track down Jake and Lady? He hasn't seen you since... The Study." She frowned as she finished her sentence but Finn just nodded his head and smiled.

"I'll do that. You just get back to work Peebles." he said, waving to her before leaving the room. She let of a quick sigh before turning around. She picked up her clipboard and carefully ran a pencil over the checklist she had on it.

"Science, please go the store room. We're going to need more explosive diarrhea if we're going to do this right."

* * *

Finn walked down the hallway, his thoughts racing through his head. He'd done his best to stay smiling when the Princess had mentioned his episode earlier.

'_I'm pretty sure I was still smiling when I left. I was wasn't I? I mean, I can't really be sure because it's impossible to look at my own face on the fly, but it felt like I was still smiling. The last thing she needs right now is to feel guilty about making me sad and junk, right now she needs to-_'

He was swiftly knocked flat on his butt. He'd been so lost in his own train of thought that he wasn't even trying to watch where he was going. He groaned and pulled himself to his feet. He swiftly shook his head while rubbing his backside.

"Hey, sorry about that, I wasn- JAKE!" he yelled, seeing his brother on rubbing his own butt. Jake immediately looked up and smiled, his tail wagging excitedly behind him.

"FINN!" he cried, bounding forward and crushing him in a hug. Lady came around the corner behind him and smiling at what she found. Jake held his brother at arms length and just stared at him. Finn simply smiled right back at him.

"So dude, are you... Y'know, you alright? I've been worried sick about you man."

"Yeah Man, don't worry. Everything's cool." Jake set Finn down and a concerned look crossed his face.

"You say everything's cool, but is everything... Is everything chill in the freezer?" he said, tapping his own head. It took Finn a second to catch on, and when he did his face took on a serious look and he just nodded.

"It'll take some time, but I'll get over it Jake." he said, placing a hand on Jake's shoulder. The dog smiled and laughed, a feeling of relief coming over him. He'd been so worried, he'd thought that maybe he'd never get his Finn back, not the same one anyway. But now here stood his brother, shaken but not giving up.

"So I guess Bubblegum's told you all the stuff going on, the freak in stripes?" Jake asked, he and Finn both moving forward to lean on a window ledge.

"Yeah man, I've heard. But..." he grimaced, his brain still trying to accept the possible reality of it all, "There's more to it. The kids who saw that creep last night, they all saw him while they were sleeping. In their _dreams_ Jake." Jake gasped, unnerved by the concept of it all.

"Is that junk even possible man? I mean, that would mean that we have some creepy dream killer on the loose man. Doesn't that just sound crazy?" Jake asked, his eyebrows curving downwards. He looked over to see a worried look on Finn's face.

"I dunno man, but if that sounds crazy, then I am too." he stated, looking towards Jake. The dog's face went blank, his eyes growing larger. "That plop was in my dream last night too Jake. He's why I was so freaked out. If what's going on is..." he trailed off, his voice breaking a little. He looked away from Jake, too ashamed to cry again in front of him. He almost gasped when Jake wrapped his arms around him and Lady squeezed around both of them, wrapping them in her long body. He looked up and saw nothing but compassion in her face. "If what's going on is too crazy to be real Jake, I just... I just wanna wake up." Jake gave Finn another squeeze and let go.

"We'll work through this buddy, together." Jake said, lightly punching Finn's shoulder.

"Yeah man. Thanks for being here for me." he said, genuinely smiling.

"So what now bro? There's some major funk down in town right now. Any plans on fixing it?" Finns eyes widened at the question.

"Oh yeah! I forgot, that's what I was coming to tell you guys, Bubblegum's working up a batch of her Decorpsinator stuff! We can bring back all of the candy kids, Jake." Jake laughed and threw his arms into the air.

"Alright, happy ending! We bring everyone back, we catch this dream creepo, and then we sock him until we can't sock him no more!" yelled Jake, finnishing with a laugh. Finn just nodded and looked out the window again. It all sounded so simple.

'_I hope you're right man._'

* * *

"**YOU DID WHAT?**" a voice boomed out from overhead. Down below a winged red creature cowered, the twin blades strapped to his back providing him no comfort. He cringed under the power of the voice from above, his eyes shut tight. This was the first time in... well, ever, that he'd been reprimanded for doing his job, or even for not doing it. The lack of action he had to take just helped add to the general chaos of the place. So what if he gave out keys to pretty much anyone who asked? They could never really escape.

He looked up to the source of the booming voice, but his eyes couldn't see through the large cloud of Blood Mist that held the speaker aloft in the air. He turned his gaze to the area around him. He was stuck in the home of his boss, and his closest escape, the window, just wasn't close enough. He glanced around, noticing photos on the wall. Some just featuring his boss, other not. There was a photo of him standing with Death himself, another of him playing golf with a small candy person. The biggest pictures prominently featured his boss, and there was but one family photo including himself, his late wife and their daughter.

Getting nervous under the pressure that he was beginning to feel, the Jailer finally found the courage to speak. He could almost feel his boss staring at him through the Blood Mist.

"Look, I'm sorry man. Usually it never matters to you who is imprisoned or not. I just thought-"

"**CLEARLY YOU DIDN'T THINK! I LEAVE IT TO YOUR DISCRECTION TO LOCK UP PEOPLE AS A PUNISHMENT WHETHER THEY DESERVE IT OR NOT, BUT WHEN I HAVE PERSONALLY LOCKED SOMETHING AWAY IT IS WITH GOOD REASON!**" The voice boomed down at him, cutting off his attempt at a defence.

"Yeah, I know that, but... What'd I really do wrong? I helped somebody get out, sure, but where can he go? He's still stuck here, isn't he?" the Jailer timidly asked. He backed away, filled with fear as the Blood Mist cloud slowly descended down to him. It touched the floor and slowly dissipated, leaving only the imposing form of his boss standing over him.

"I'll have to punish you later, I won't rest until I've got that one locked up again." said his boss flatly, gaining some composure now that he didn't sustain the cloud. The Jailer just looked up at his boss, his face growing somewhat pale, a great feat for something usually bright red.

"Wh-why don't you just kill me?" stammered the Jailer, hoping for a quick end. All he received in return was a vicious glare from his boss.

"Not gonna happen. Death would be too easy a punishment for you. I'll have to come up with something more... fitting. But that will come later, when my work is done."

"But what about the people you've got in line waiting to see you? What do we tell them?" the Jailer asked, hearing discontented voices coming from below the window.

"**You will tell them to wait**," boomed the voice of his boss. He wasn't shouting, but the intensity of his voice still managed to jar the Jailer. "This is taking my top priority. All other matters are being put on hold until my search is complete."

"But boss, c'mon man. He can't be that hard to track, right? Where's he gonna go? You always tell us, no one escapes the Nightosphere." His boss considered the words for a moment before he turned away from the Jailer and walked towards the door.

"There are exceptions to every rule." was all Hunson Abadeer said before leaving the room.

* * *

Bubblegum had called everyone together when the serum had been completed. She and the others had gathered in the Candy Hospital, with many teary eyed, and sometimes inebriated parents. As Bubblegum led the way into the morgue the parents were asked to remain outside. The only people allowed access was the Princess herself, along with Dr. Ice Cream, Lady Rainicorn and the two brothers.

Even though they were just made of candy, Finn had to resist the urge to vomit. Seeing something dead was one thing, but this was something else entirely. The bodies were cut up, large gashes sliced along their little faces and backs. Some still had a look of extreme terror frozen on their face, persisting through death. Some hadn't died from simple cuts however. There were a few who had a large hole through their torso, as if something had been plunged straight through them. Some bodies were just a collection of chunks and parts, having exploded under the sheer terror they were feeling. Finn nearly regretted coming here, but knew that he wanted to see, more than anything, the children returned to normal.

Bubblegum set a large vat of the serum in the middle of the room and proceeded to hand everyone a small bottle and an eye dropper.

"Just one drop will be sufficient. Don't go overboard, just one drop." she instructed. Finn and the other nodded and set about their task. Finn was the first to apply his, just a single drop of Decorpsinator, to a small gumdrop boy. The effect was almost instantaneous, the candy child's body returning to it's full and unmarked state. Finn cried out with joy, but stopped almost immediately. The child's body sat up and Finn looked into it's eyes. They were blank, and glazed over.

"Princess! Com'ere, quick!" he yelled, setting down his bottle of serum carefully, his hands shaking. Bubblegum rushed over, a smile on her face.

"What is it?" she asked, her smile stolen away by Finn's expression. "What's wrong Finn?" she asked, placing a hand on Finn's shoulder. He inwardly flinched a little but didn't try and tear away from her grasp, memories still so fresh in his mind.

"Look into the kid's eyes PB, they're not right... They're like, empty and junk." he stated, watch as the Princess knelt down to examine the child. She frowned, a look of worry crossing her face.

"Finn, did you use too much serum? I said one drop would be enough."

"No no!" he yelled, shaking his head quickly and waving his hands in front of himself, "I just used one drop, hero's honour!"

Bubblegum continued to look over the child's body, totally restored. But Finn was right, the eyes just seemed, empty.

"It's alright, Finn. I believe you. We'll sort this out later, but right now we must restore the other children". Finn nodded, carefully retaking his bottle of serum. He continued to go from body to body, but each time he was met with the same result. Regardless of the cause of death, the body recovered perfectly, but the child's eyes were always just... Empty. They had all made their rounds, reviving roughly 34 children.

Disheartened they all met again in the center of the room, worry creasing their faces. Bubblegum, clearly showing her distress paced about the room.

"I just don't understand this! The formula was perfect... We test it several times and compared it to a sample of the batch created during the previous zombie outbreak, they were identical! This... maybe I'll have to use more? Or should I have used less? Oh... I DON'T KNOW!" she shouted, at herself more than anyone. Finn started to reach up to comfort her but his hand stopped before reaching her and swung back to his side.

'_I don't even know what to say to her right now... I just..._' His thoughts trailed off and his eyes fell upon the first child he revived. The eyes were empty, alive but not. They seemed totally soulless.

'_Soulless..._' he thought suddenly. A memory clicked in his brain and he raised his hands over his head, shouting, "Oh my Glob!"

His sudden outburst got the attention of his three friends, their eyes all on him.

"What is it buddy?" Jake asked, his eyes looking his brother up and down. Finn stepped closer to the little boy, his hand outstretched. He touched the boy's shoulder, drawing a near lifeless moan from his throat.

"I've seen this before Jake. You made your stuff right PB, it did what it was supposed to."

"But Finn, they are all mindless, they have no direction, they have no-"

"Souls" he interrupted, turning away from the gumdrop boy to face her. A look of confusion took over her face.

"But Finn, how do you know?" she asked, managing to take a little comfort in the fact that her science wasn't totally at fault here. Finn looked over to Jake who was just starting to grasp what his brother meant.

"I've seen people who've had their souls taken out, when I had to lock Marceline's dad back into the Nightosphere. He was going across Ooo and jacking people's souls, and I met a few of the Fluffy People who had become his victims. They looked just like this". Bubblegum nodded her head, but something didn't add up.

"Then why did my serum restore my people's bodies and souls originally?" she asked. Finn though about it for a moment but he couldn't come up with an answer worth speaking. He merely shrugged with a saddened look on his face. The four almost jumped when a voice spoke up from the doorway.

"Perhaps they are not free to return?"

* * *

**Alright folks. I'm pretty sure I promised another Nightmare on my last update. Sorry it didn't really turn out this chapter, I took a bit of a slower direction right here. I've got another planned but I wanted to get something out since I've been away for a bit so the action will have to wait until the next one. I'm back for quite a while now and I've got a quick rough drafted up for the next chapter right now so I'll be on that for the next few days.**

**As always, thanks for reading and please drop me a review. Every little bit helps. :D**


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